Fitness for Kids

Living Well

As you prepare your children for school, you should also think about how active your children are. Childhood obesity has become a national epidemic. Over the past 30 years, childhood obesity rates in America have tripled. Today, nearly one in three children in America is overweight or obese, with the highest percentage of obesity among children of low-income families. One-third of all children born in 2000 or later will suffer from diabetes at some point in their lives.

“An active lifestyle, combined with healthy eating, is the number one way to prevent obesity and key to preventing a host of serious obesity related diseases,” says Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. Fitness programs for children can help address the obesity issue. In addition to the health benefits, studies show that participation in such programs correlates with better educational outcomes. Following are some resources to help you get your child started with a fitness program.

First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign aims to end childhood obesity within a generation, emphasizing fitness. The program offers suggestions on how to help your child get and stay physically fit at letsmove.gov.

Action for Healthy Kids has resources for parents to help kids stay healthy – just go to the search function at actionforhealthykids.org.

The National Center on Physical Activity and Disability (NCPAD) has information on exercise and activities for children – a list of youth fitness programs across the country can be found at ncpad.org/programs.

The pediatric health system Nemours has information about keeping kids active at kidshealth.org.

PE Central offers a collection of online programs intended to motivate children of all ages to become more physically active (including a section on adapted physical education) at pecentral.org/kids_programs/home.shtml.

The President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports lists President’s Challenge activities for different age groups at fitness.gov/challenge.

Running USA, a nonprofit organization promoting the sport of running, lists programs and resources in its Resource Center for Youth Running and Fitness at runningrocks.com.

This Web site is supported, in part, by grant numbers 90LL0002-02-00 and 90LL0002-02-01, from the Administration for Community Living, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, D.C. 20201. Grantees undertaking projects under government sponsorship are encouraged to express freely their findings and conclusions. Points of view or opinions do not, therefore, necessarily represent official Administration for Community Living policy.